Spy x Family – 33 – To the Cleaners

The quick synopsis of this episode writes itself: The fireworks in the sky are no match for the fireworks on the deck. Yor tries to get Okla and Zeb to the rubber dinghy that will rendezvous with their boat out of here, but they’re spotted in the hall by the coordinator of the assassins. So while Yor hopes the fireworks will provide cover, it only ends up being a backdrop for one of Spy x Family’s longest, most intense, inventive, and nerve-wracking battles to date.

The first sign of danger is when Yor is desperately dodging a bullet from a sniper rifle. Dozens of assassins come out of the shadows, none of whom she sensed coming. This means they’re all top-flite killers, but not all assassins are created equal. You get the feeling the first few Yor carves through aren’t the strongest, and Yor gets a key assist from the Director.

Zeb gets shot in the back three times shielding Olka as they tumble into a below-deck hatch, but he’s wearing a bulletproof vest, so Yor’s clients are now out of the way, enabling her to switch off her limiter. She stares down her targets with crazed determination, and gives the Director a lot to mop up as her kills are more florid and bloody than usual.

The direction of this fight ensures we’re never ever bored, and even though Yor seems to have everything under control, the sheer number of opponents keeps the tension that something unthinkable might happen high throughout. There’s also some marvelous match cuts from fireworks to blood splattering to the coins of the gambling off-duty bodyguards.

I particularly liked the comic gauntlet in which Yor felled an assassin before they could even finish introducing themselves, followed by Director mopping up their blood. When assassins start getting hits on her, she simply shrugs them off, and having absorbed their best shot, dispatches them.

The fireworks hit their grand finale just as she strikes a victory pose, but the battle isn’t over. Now that his share has increased significantly, the coordinator offers Yor a cut to walk away from the job, but that ain’t happening. She asks if they can stand down, and that ain’t happening either. Instead, the toughest assassin yet manages to take out the Director in ten seconds flat.

Adorably, one of Yor’s first thoughts is her cover story for her change of hairstyle upon reuniting with Loid and Anya. But as her struggle against the samurai-like opponent goes on and she can only seem to retreat and defend against his attacks, she realizes she’s getting ahead of herself.

First of all, she needs to stay alive, then fulfill her mission, then get back to her family. Even so, when the katana is less than an inch from her throat, she worries she won’t be able to get Loid’s shirts from the cleaners, or return Anya’s library books. Simple little things from the peaceful side of her life.

Everything comes back to why she is doing this. Just as Ms. Olka wanted to give her son a quiet peaceful life, she did what she did to protect Yuri’s. But the fight never ends. No matter how bloody her hands get or if it claims her life or even causes her to lose the Forgers, she’s determined to cleanse the world of threats to those that matter to her. It’s a fight that may never end, but as she declares at the end (and Hayami Saori firing with both barrels)  it’s one she’ll never give up.

The post-credit vignette is about Yuri catching a cold due to Yor being away, then remembering to what lengths she went do make him herbal tea with honey when he was little. In addition to giving us an adorable younger Yor, it reinforces just why Yuri loves his sister so much. She would do literally anything for him, and do it with the biggest smile in the world. I just hope her smile can survive this cruise mission, and she can get back to Loid and Anya.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 08 – Daddy Issues

Naofumi is deciding who will stay in the village and who will accompany him on the hunt for Gaelion when a new crisis crops up: Filo is gravely ill. Gaelion appears to be sapping her XP, resulting in her level gradually lowering. Atla can slow the decline, but can’t stop it, which means they need to do something about Gaelion if Filo is going to survive.

Naofumi takes Raphtalia, Eclair, Ren, Sadeena, and Wyndia to the neighboring village where Ren had previously defeated a dragon. They tell Naofumi there’s a new dragon in the den located in the nearby mountain. Wyndia doesn’t seem to particularly like these people.

While on their way to the den they encounter a porcupine beast, which Wyndia handles all by herself using magical power drawn from the dragon veins beneath the earth. Her power comes as a surprise to Naofumi, but Sadeena says one day Wyndia will be able to use Jamming and Choral magic.

Back in Luroluna, things go from bad to worse with poor Filo, who becomes covered in the same marks of red light as Naofumi when he was consumed by the Wrath Shield. Eventually her eyes turn red and she goes berserk. As the Gaelion search party pauses for a fire, Wyndia shoots an ugly look Ren’s way as well.

Whatever beef she has with Ren, when she slips and almost falls down a sheer cliff, he saves her life and tells her he’s glad she’s not hurt. Now that he no longer sees this world as just a game, he’s trying to be a better hero.

When Raph’s magical light can’t reach a particularly huge cavern, Wyndia taps into the dragon vein and illuminates the entire den. Shortly after that they’re ambushed by the berserk Gaelion.

As they defend and counter his attacks, the berserk Filo suddenly appears, ridden by Melty, Atla, and Fohl. The dragon possessing Gaelion lets out a breath that converts Filo to human form … then swallows her whole. This results in a transformation in Gaelion from a small red Wyr to a much stronger and more ancient-looking dragon.

According to his HUD Filo is still alive, so the party launches an all-out attack on the dragon to rescue her. Their efforts bear fruit as the dragon is grounded, but when moving in for a decisive blow, they’re stopped by Wyndia, who begs them not to hurt her dad anymore.

That’s right; Wyndia can sense within this dragon the soul of her father, who was the dragon Ren killed some time ago. She tries to talk sense into her father, telling him that while the other heroes were bad, the Shield Hero has only ever been kind.

The dragon responds by trying to kill Wyndia, but fortunately Ren is able to block its attack and save her again. This dragon is no longer Gaelion or her father, but the Emperor Dragon from the Hunting Hero’s world. He opens his breast armor to reveal Filo is now a part of his core.

Now that he’s resurrected he intends to subjugate all humans. Naofumi re-buffs everyone, but even their best attacks, so effective before, are useless against the Emperor Dragon’s tough skin.

When Naofumi discovers the dragon is somehow drawing its defense from his own shield, he prepares to fail a power-up attempt on his Wrath Shield. But to his dismay, the dragon is also capable of hacking his HUD. Instead of failing, he successfully powers up the Wrath Shield several times, thus gaining terrifying amounts of power.

The dragon turns red and its power discharge pretty much KOs everyone. Naofumi manages to get in front of Atla, Fohl, and Wyndia and sets up every shield he has, but the dragon’s breath blasts through nearly all of them, which brings us to a cliffhanger ending.

Mind you, all of this could have been avoided if Naofumi hadn’t kept the soul of the Emperor Dragon on his bedside table. I mean, do safes not exist in this world? Like the slaver attack on the village Naofumi left inexplicably undefended earlier this season, this is a dilemma of his creation. Hopefully he can fix it before Filo and the others pay an irreversible price.

The Dangers in My Heart – 09 – Everything On the LINE

Sometimes Ichikawa is so dense it hurts. Yes, Yamada asks him for his LINE ID in a bit of a roundabout way, but seriously dude, just exchange LINE IDs with her, damnit! But no, everything has to be done the excruciatingly hard way.

Winter break approaches and Sekine wants a boyfriend, so she just casts her LINE out to everyone, starting with Ichikawa. Her more aggressive approach works, and we not only learn that Ichikawa’s avatar is Rem (whose right eye is also obscured by bangs), but Sekine knows who that is and is more of a Ram fan. Oh, and Yamada feels cheated.

It isn’t until Sekine sends Yamada to the class track star (who lives in the same apartment building as her) for his LINE ID that Ichikawa realizes what a tactical blunder he made in the library. Thankfully, when he suddenly blurts out an “AH!”, that’s all Yamada needs to say never mind to the guy.

He’s determined to tell her tomorrow that he does indeed use LINE, but descends into doubt and indecision as he reads three more pages of the shoujo manga she lent him. He seems to think she wants a guy like the boy in the manga, starts seeing parallels between their story and their own scenario, and warns himself against such trains of thought. He still feels like having any kind of hope is folly.

The next day, a casanova stops by  to very aggressively asks Yamada to come to his house and “go at it” (in “video games”). He’s flanked by another girl he’s either dated, dating, or stringing along as proof of his virility. Thankfully, Chihiro is right there as Yamada’s Iron Defense.

But when the guy says Chihiro is welcome to join them as well, that Iron Defense suddenly crumbles. This doesn’t bode well for Ichikawa, but it distresses Yamada even more. Yamada and Ichikawa realize the same thing: that dude is using Chihiro to get to her.

But Yamada would never say that; she insists she’s not going. Chihiro says fine, she’ll go with Sekine, but Yamada says “forget it, but I warned you”. As spacy as she can presents, she’s always exhibited the emotional intelligence to cut to the meat of things.

Yamada was just looking out for Chihiro, and that they ended up at odds leads Yamada to cry in the library. She hides her tears when Yamada comes in, and starts talking about all the video game systems her dad has, no doubt working towards inviting him to her place.

But then two older girls who know loverboy come in to size up and even pick on Yamada a little. They conclude that she must already have a boyfriend, but she insists she doesn’t and then emphatically repeats it while looking directly at Ichikawa. The girls think they know what’s going on and leave.

Just as Ichikawa is telling Yamada she shouldn’t hang around him when other people are around, one of the girls returns with the loverboy. Rather that separate herself from him, Yamada draws him even closer until they’re in position to kiss. From the interlopers’ view, that’s what they look like they’re doing, and they leave.

Later in class, Sekine breaks it to Chihiro that loverboy was just using her so Yamada would come. Realizing this, she decides not to go after all, and after class tries to flag down Yamada. When she tries to ignore her, Chihiro calls her a “big stupid she-giant”, and Yamada chases her down the hall.

The chase ends with Chihiro in Yamada’s arms, and Ichikawa overhears as they make up. But even as peace returns to the girl group, one withering look from loverboy gets all the wrong gears spinning in Ichikawa’s head.

What if, all this time, Yamada was just using him to shake off a guy she didn’t like? I tell ya, my heart sank all the way down to my feet when he took a sudden, unadvised detour off the new road he and Yamada had been walking. Me no like regression! Stop thinking wrong!

The next day, my nightmare scenario unfolds, as Yamada brightly greets him only to be stonewalled. He completely ignores and avoids her, even avoiding the library. Yamada stands at a distance like a stunned puppy. When he starts heading home without a word to her, she follows him.

Out the door of the class room, down the hall, down the stairs. He quickens the pace, but there’s no way he can outrun those determined legs. Finally, she manages to grab his wrist and wall slams him, her eyes raw and primed for tears. She asks him, with pain in her voice, if he’s mad at her, and why.

When they hear voices, she jumps away from him, asking if he’s mad because she’s always so close. Ichikawa, still in spiteful victim mode, brushes her off and says he’s “got places to be,” not caring if she’s upset the guy she’s using hates her.

But when he hears her begin to sob, the tune in his head thankfully changes. Like a radio caught between stations, the static gives way to clarity: Yamada isn’t the kind of girl who would use him, and he doesn’t hate her. He was just looking for an excuse to hate her. Now he’s hurting her when he doesn’t want to, but he has the power to stop that hurt right now.

He turns back to her as she drops her tissue—from one of the packs he left for her in the library ages ago—and corrects course, hopping back on the road. He clarifies that he just has some stuff to do during lunch break, and isn’t mad. A Yamada relieved beyond belief pulls him into a dramatic hug.

She apologizes for this make-up hug, as she assumes he doesn’t like being close, but Ichikawa takes her wrist in his hand, looks up at her, and says “I never said that,” which is exactly what the heroine in the manga says to the guy. After they check to see if anyone is around, they remain in a protracted hug, then agree to walk home together. This scene made me cry tears of joy. I legit needed a tissue!

Just like that, all is well, and my heart is back where it belongs: within my rib cage! The gorgeous colors of the setting sun mimic the similarly vivid warm feelings emanating from Yamada and Ichikawa as they chat on the way home. Ichikawa lets her go on about natto, and she asks him what he’s doing for Winter Break.

When he returns the manga to her, she asks for his impressions, and they learn they even have the same favorite part. Yamada, who had just earlier looked at December 24th on her calendar, tells Ichikawa she’ll bring the next volume for him on Monday.

But Monday comes, and she “forgot” the volume. By “forgot”, I mean she hatched a brilliant and foolproof scheme to not only get Ichikawa’s LINE ID, but arrange to hang out together before he heads off with his family for the break.

She insists that the cliffhanger at the end of volume 3 demands that he read the next one ASAP, so they have no choice but to meet up somewhere. She then asks him for his LINE ID. Youmiya Hina’s voice brooked no dissent, and Ichikawa wisely agrees.

From there, the floodgates open. The two start messaging and don’t stop until the morning. Yamada proposes meeting up at 2PM tomorrow by Hachiko in Shibuya, and Ichikawa confirms, while noting it’s already tomorrow. After the first half of the episode plunged us into the depths of despair, this felt like suddenly rising and breaking through the surface of the water with a dazzling splash.

The pure excitement of this development is sold so well by the editing, Yamada’s expressions, and composer Ushio Kensuke, who has really been giving the endings the extra dramatic oomph and flourish they deserve. I couldn’t help but think to the times when I first started clicking with a girl I liked, and the rush of adrenaline and dopamine that comes with that sudden flow of communication.

What an emotional roller coaster this was. I’m exhausted in the best way. When a show makes you feel so much in such a short time, you know it’s something special. We’re now officially back on the road again, and just kicked into high gear with a full tank of gas. Avanti!

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